I was just thinking....... remember when he was first brought in and had that Rah rah mentality.. remember how many people said it wouldn't work....Muhahahahaha... I wonder what they think now.... (I hope I wasn't one of them LOL)

When they first hired him, I didn't like it because I was leery of having a college coach (not the "rah rah", just the experience), and after the whole Holmgren/Ruskell/Mora mess, I really didn't like the idea of hiring a coach before hiring a GM.

Fortunately for me and everyone else in Seahawkland, Paul Allen & Co. knew what they were doing.

The "rah rah" thing never bothered me.

49ers webzone: Win or lose, i hope you injure Sherman. Like a serious career ending injury. I don't want him to get paid.49ers webzone: noise should not be the overwhelming reason a team is favored. they need to spray noise-damping foam onto the ceiling of that place.

If anyone is still on the fence about Carroll - please look outside of the team.

- Read his book "Win Forever" - you will see how and why this system works. It's been an amazing motivator for me and those I've recommended to read it. - See what's happening in "A Better Seattle" and "A Better LA" - amazing stuff- His work with kids

I for one am a huge fan, and it's no surprise to me that players have rallied behind and want to play for him.

I was very optimistic because Pete was given control over the roster. Pete has shown that he can build a team when he has the control to do so. His only bad teams were the ones where he wasn't allowed to pick the players or even hire his own coaches. It has all come together even faster than I envisioned and I am loving it. GO HAWKS!!!

BlueTalon wrote:When they first hired him, I didn't like it because I was leery of having a college coach (not the "rah rah", just the experience), and after the whole Holmgren/Ruskell/Mora mess, I really didn't like the idea of hiring a coach before hiring a GM.

Fortunately for me and everyone else in Seahawkland, Paul Allen & Co. knew what they were doing.

About 25 regular season wins and one home playoff win. Made the playoffs twice in his first 3 years. Is that part of the 'hasn't won anything?' Lest we also forget that we were Division Champs at the end of his first season.

Hey, it's not much, but don't you think the 'hasn't won anything' statement to be mild exaggeration?

BlueTalon wrote:When they first hired him, I didn't like it because I was leery of having a college coach (not the "rah rah", just the experience), and after the whole Holmgren/Ruskell/Mora mess, I really didn't like the idea of hiring a coach before hiring a GM.

This. I liked the idea of Carroll as coach but when they suggested he would be hiring his own GM, and reading between the lines we learned that he would basically be ABOVE the GM in the team hierarchy, I was very worried. I thought he would push around some new GM and we would draft a bunch of crappy players.

This. I liked the idea of Carroll as coach but when they suggested he would be hiring his own GM, and reading between the lines we learned that he would basically be ABOVE the GM in the team hierarchy,

Not quite the way that I remember it.

Pete didn't "hire" John but rather he "endorsed" John being hired as the GM after they had a chance to meet and discuss the team and their vision of the future.

Mike Holmgren is a highly regarded Coach. When you compare their first 3 years I would say that Pete has this team further ahead. I was on the fence when he got hired, mostly cause his previous NFL HC record wasn't great. He's done a great job. He's won me over.

I've followed Pete since he came to USC, especially starting in his second year. His enthusiasm was contagious. I loved watching him on the sidelines. When the team started winning, that made it even sweeter. I was intrigued by this energetic coach who so obviously loved the game. "Who is this guy and where the heck did he come from?" I wondered. I was drawn to Pete's natural charisma and positive attitude, something so lacking much of the time in our increasingly cynical world.

I started reading everything I could find about Peter Clay Carroll. The more I read, the more impressed I became. I have to admit to developing more than a tad of hero worship. I had to try very hard not to put him on a pedestal and heap unrealistic expectations on this special, but still very human, individual. "No one is perfect, and he will make mistakes like anyone else," I constantly reminded myself. I needed to remind myself because USC was on a run the likes of which had never been seen in modern college football.

In the middle of all that winning, word started filtering out about late night treks into the city. First one article, then another, then one more describing how Pete and Bo Taylor had been going alone into some of the worst neighborhoods in LA to talk to guys, try to give them hope, and even help some find jobs. Then Pete and Lou Tice founded A Better LA. A few more articles trickled out, along with TV coverage. I discovered those excursions into the inner city had been occurring for a good year or two before the press found out. My hero worship was turning into a full-on crush.

And just when things were humming along beautifully, Reggie Bush and his parents (and OJ Mayo) got greedy. The NCAA jumped on it like a starving dog on a bone. Nearly four years of investigations ensued, with unfounded rumours, stonewalling in court between Reggie and his lawyers and Lloyd Lake and his attorneys, negative recruiting by other schools, and on and on. Fan forums turned negative, with some people ready to pick apart every perceived issue, valid or not. Media pundits who had loved USC suddenly acted like jilted lovers, looking to find anything to make Pete and the team look bad. This "Sword of Damocles" hung there, threatening to fall and wearing on all who loved the Trojans, including the ever-optimistic Pete Carroll.

And then there was Paul Allen. His team was in disarray, and he wanted it fixed. He and Tod Leiweke decided Pete Carroll was the guy they wanted, and they were willing to give him whatever he needed to make it work. The itch to try the NFL again had always been there for Pete, but he had felt he'd never get a legitimate shot to do it his way. And he truly loved USC. He'd been a USC fan as a kid. His father-in-law was an alum, as was his daughter. His youngest son was a USC student. But here were Paul and Tod with this incredibly enticing offer...

I was among the shocked when Pete announced he was leaving USC. Only Pete knows for sure why he ultimately decided to come to Seattle. Critics claim he was running away from impending sanctions at USC. Perhaps. I tend to think he simply needed a change after several years of negativity, and the chance to prove himself at the NFL level on his own terms was too great a challenge for such a fierce competitor to pass up.

Once I learned that Paul Allen had given Pete the tools and opportunity to do it his way, I had faith he would succeed. I actually thought it would happen sooner. That it didn't shows just how bad the team was when Pete and John first arrived. I initially thought the team had turned the corner after the win against the Giants last year, but they didn't quite have the pieces in place yet; they didn't have Russell.

Three years into the "Pete Carroll era" in Seattle, the rest of the world is once again starting to believe what I've known for over a decade now: Pete Carroll is a dammed good football coach, a master motivator and a man who truly loves life. He isn't perfect. None of us is. But I believe in him. I've talked to him, albeit briefly, three times now. I've read extensively about him. I've seen the results--on and off the field--with my own eyes.

this is an article I wrote, it had to be around 600 words so I didn't get to go into a lot of the statistical detail I wanted too but it gets to the point I think:

If your NFL awareness were a blank canvas and you allowed NFL experts and twitterphiles to unite and paint a portrait of Pete Carroll upon it, the clown holding pom-poms staring back at you through a bandit’s mask would be as misleading as it were disturbing.

The initial reactions to Pete’s “rah-rah” coaching style are understandable. His animated sideline act doesn’t exactly invoke the NFL Films caliber imagery you’d expect from league famous for portraits of Lombardi, Landry, and more recently, Belichick. According to many, his NFL resume is lacking and until he finds success at the pro level, he will remain the classic example of the college coach who has yet to translate success in the NCAA to a noteworthy NFL career.

Then there is the visage of “Pete the Cheat”; the slippery outlaw who evaded the fallout of sanctions at USC, instead finding himself set up quite nicely in the Pacific Northwest with a comfortable salary, the GM of his choosing, and the support of the NFL’s richest and arguably most hands-off owner.

Not only did the bandit escape, he’s also living large beyond the long arm of the law.

These are all reasonable conclusions to come to for anyone who wishes to take them all at face value; however, I see them as compelling invitations to dig a little deeper.

Carroll on the sidelines is Carroll in the locker room. As someone who regularly attends training camp at the VMAC in Renton, Washington, I can say he’s also the same guy running those practices at the base of a hill full of the “12s”, as the players have come to refer to fans. Pete’s enthusiasm isn’t fraudulent. It’s not the awkward, naïve cheerleading of a goofball succumbing to his quirks. It’s a consistent devotion to the belief in and reinforcement of his philosophy as a coach. The kind of passionate, resilient, and competitive players Pete wants on his roster thrive on embracing the positives. If they don’t buy in to this celebration of “team” and competition, they are gone. Just ask the 45 players no longer on the roster from the team Carroll took over in 2010.

Misconceptions about Pete could fall into the category of “act like you’ve been there before”. It’s advice that’s become more prevalent in this age of instant information and constant audience. It’s important to note that if the measure of NFL success is post-season berths, Pete’s “been there before”. For the second time in three seasons, Pete has navigated the Seahawks to the playoffs. It’s a feat more impressive when you consider the roster turnover. Of the eight remaining players from 2009, Red Bryant is the only current starter*. Combined with two playoff seasons with the Patriots, Pete has an often overlooked four playoff berths in seven seasons.

Going back to our canvas, it’s possible you’ve painted over the pom-poms and grease paint, but “Pete the Cheat” still dons the mask of an outlaw. I’ll keep this one simple. If Pete had stuck around USC to go “down with the ship” while an NFL owner was offering him a lucrative salary and control over an NFL franchise, he would be deserving of giant red shoes and a nose that honks when you squeeze it. Implying that Pete should have taken the moral high ground by passing up millions of dollars for his family and the coaching opportunity of a lifetime because someone decided to buy Reggie Bush’s family a car in a situation he had no control over would make him every bit the naïve clown so many improperly see him as.

Perhaps being the over-animated coach of the South Alaska Seahawks is never going to garner the respect he deserves, but Pete Carroll is far from the caricature you may believe he is.

*note at the time this was written, Hill's status was up in the air but he would be a second.

BlueTalon wrote:When they first hired him, I didn't like it because I was leery of having a college coach (not the "rah rah", just the experience), and after the whole Holmgren/Ruskell/Mora mess, I really didn't like the idea of hiring a coach before hiring a GM.

Fortunately for me and everyone else in Seahawkland, Paul Allen & Co. knew what they were doing.

The "rah rah" thing never bothered me.

Pete Carroll was not a college coach. This is a huge misconception.

Carroll was a great college coach, then a horrible nfl coach, then a great college coach and on his 2nd stint in the NFL is showing he can be a good NFL coach too . . . other than the last part sounds a lot like nick sabon . . . a great college coach that most likely will get a 2nd chance in the NFL someday to prove he is capable there too . . .

HawkRiderFan wrote:Mike Holmgren is a highly regarded Coach. When you compare their first 3 years I would say that Pete has this team further ahead. I was on the fence when he got hired, mostly cause his previous NFL HC record wasn't great. He's done a great job. He's won me over.

First Year with Holmgren wasn't too shabby, as he he didn't have a melt down, and had a decent W/L, but in Year one? he was basically playing the hand he was dealt with Jon Kitna at the helm.Pete Carroll?, he too had to try'n win games with a more depleted team, and he too did a great good job just holding things together, and he too had an ok W/L.I believe that It comes down to understanding how to get ALL the Coaches involved in the proccess, and not being a tyrant about doing everything his way ONLY, that has Pete ahead of Holmgren as Head Coaching styles as far as I'm concerned.As for talent evaluators, I think Pete has the edge there also, I think that because he's the more one on one with his players, he recognizes players that are hungry to prove themselves..John Schneider is the perfect compliment to Pete in his evaluation methods.I think Petes Seahawks are more rounded with high intensity players than what Holmgren had.

Last edited by scutterhawk on Thu Jan 03, 2013 3:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.